Staff buy Norse out of bankruptcy

While the separate fates of all 120 employees are unclear, three, non-management staff are understood to have acted to save bankrupt processor and packer, Norse Production, near Bergen, Norway.

The contract-processor does work for internationally known supplier, Sekkingstad, one of the world’s largest, independent exporters of salmon.

According to bankruptcy trustee, Bjorn Aage Hamre, the three staff are said to have registered a company to effect the Norse buyout. The company was declared bankrupt exactly a week ago.

“After the bankruptcy, production was kept up as a means of avoiding permanent closure,” Hamre was quoted by Sysla as saying. “Now, production will be continued on a permanent basis, where the enterprise is brought forward by the new owners,” he added.

A union demand after two rounds of labour unrest made it impossible to run the business, and previous owners threw in the towel. Hamre said how many strike-worn staff end up keeping their jobs was up in the air: “From the trusteeship’s side, making an offer to as many as possible its been central.”